A proposal by four members of Congress would give your e-mail more protection. E-mail's that are subject to federal wiretapping would require a court order for real-time interception of communications. According to PCWorld this "bill would also prohibit private ISPs from accessing subscriber e-mail beyond what is necessary to provide service." Hopefully this bill will get passed, and in the process give back a little more privacy and security to the public.

Your e-mail could gain privacy protection by law, under a proposal by four members of Congress reacting to a June court ruling that allows ISPs to snoop in digital correspondence. Representative Jay Inslee, a Washington Democrat, and three other congressmembers introduced the E-mail Privacy Act of 2004 on Thursday. The bill would make e-mail subject to federal wiretap law that requires a court order for real-time interception of communications. The bill would also prohibit private ISPs from accessing subscriber e-mail beyond what is necessary to provide service.

Spurred by Court

Inslee introduced the bill following a June 29 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The court ruled that the vice president of an ISP couldn't be charged with violating federal wiretapping laws for snooping on e-mail sent to his customers, because the federal Wiretap Act does not prohibit ISPs from reading e-mail residing on their servers.